Discovery
by Adele Starminster
Summary: A seven year old with remarkable power is sent to anouther world, and can be used for good- or evil
1. Prologue

Discovery  
Prologue  
  
A/N: This is a prequel to another story of mine, Moonlight Chronicles, on the HP section.  
  
"Hey Lez, how did you find out you were a spellsinger?" a friend of mine asked at my "house", a hidden Rose Red type apartment. Only the demon is my cat Midnight, who likes to wake me up at midnight.  
  
By clawing me.  
  
I hate that cat.  
  
"It was twelve years ago, and it was not very simple," I responded.  
  
"Tell us," urged my friend Allie.  
  
"Alrighty then, but this is strange," I cautioned.  
  
"What's in it?" Asked the only male in the group suspiciously.  
  
"Let's see. soda, stupidity, evil dudes, me losing my temper (here half the group shuddered, they had seen me lose it once or twice),magic, and an evil Seer, not all of them were as crazy as that old bat."  
  
"It was winter, and I had just gotten an odd book from the library."  
  
3rd person POV  
  
The little girl searched around the dark orphanage room, then pulled out a slim silver flashlight and a phonebook of a hardback book entitled The Art of Spellsinging.  
  
She had shoulder length red hair pulled into pigtails, and dancing dark eyes dappled with gold, the mark of the spellsinger. Her too-long white nightgown was a few shades lighter than her wintry skin, her family's legacy, as well as her off-beat personality.  
  
She opened an aged and faded lavender silken bookmark, patiently holding place for a reader long gone. She looked at it in a daze, then sang softly, uncomprehendingly, the words that would take her to another universe, into something this young spellsinger had to fix. Into a problem that would terrify even adults.  
  
Leslie Alycia Rees was about to put her powers, formerly dormant, into their first test  
  
She was seven years old.  
  
A/N: Good? Bad? Weird? Tell me. In a review, of course.  
  
Midnight Moonbeam 


	2. Chapter One

Discovery  
  
A/N: Spelling mistakes on the list are supposed to be there. She IS in second grade, after all.  
  
10 year old Nealan of Queenscove, also known as Neal, was bored. He had nothing to do. If he told his father that, he would be sent to do boring chores. So he decided to explore. The palace was huge, and he could spend hours just walking around.  
  
He never expected to bump into an intelligent seven year old girl hiding in an abandoned wing.  
  
Leslie was walking around, looking for the best room to sleep. She was lost, confused, and slightly scared. Actually, she was terrified. Finally, she found a room she liked.  
  
"It's beautiful!" The room was large, with a stone fireplace. A thick blue carpet covered most of the room, and a large canopy bed had a thick, comfy looking blanket. A honey colored wooden wardrobe had thick colored glass in a flowery pattern. She shut the door and opened her backpack. Grabbing a pencil and paper, she wrote down what she had.  
  
2 Tasty cake Cofie Kakes 1 sugar cooky 1 jeans 1 shirt 1 orphenige uniform (A/N: She's an orphan, but there is a reason)  
Navy blue skirt, ankle length  
Navy blue jacket  
Long white shirt socks water bottle juice box paper pencil pencil sharpener  
  
She scowled at the list, and wondered aloud.  
  
"Where am I gonna get food?"  
  
Neal was wandering along a passage he heard the servants say was haunted. He didn't believe them, but he was still slightly nervous. Suddenly he heard a voice. It was a girl's, and she sounded about seven-eightish. He remember a little girl was strangled there. Gulping he opened the door.  
  
There was a girl with red hair in messy twin horsetails, and she was wearing a white nightgown. She was looking at an open wardrobe full of clothes for a girl her age. No ghosts here, Neal thought, just a child. He decided to find out more about her.  
  
"Hello, what are you doing here?" he asked. Maybe she was a servant's daughter.  
  
"I- got lost. I was reading a book, and all of a sudden, I ended up here, I didn't hurt anything, promise!" she gabbled.  
  
"Calm down! What's your name?"  
  
"Leslie Alycia Rees," she said softly.  
  
"Where are your parents?" he asked.  
  
"They're dead, I s'pose. I've been in an orphanage all my life. I got dropped on the steps with a letter saying my name was Alycia and my mom was dead. The lady in charge called me Leslie, cuz I didn't have a birth certif- certificate." She explained.  
  
"I'll tell my dad, and maybe he'll find a way to get you home," he offered. She paled.  
  
"No, please don't! I might get in trouble! I'll- I'll run away if you do!" she pleaded.  
  
"All right, but do you need anything?"  
  
"Some food would be nice, and I'll need to know you're name." She replied.  
  
"Call me Neal."  
  
"Call me Alycia," she said.  
  
"Ok, see you after dinner." He said, and left. 


	3. Chapter Two

Discovery  
  
A/N: For narration Leslie will be Leslie, Neal will call her Alycia. Got it?  
  
Disclaimer: Do I have to?  
  
Leslie had found a dress and a pair of boots and soft shoes that fit comfortably, and also found two long lengths of yarn. She knotted to two pieces together and walked, using the yarn to remember the way back.  
  
She met few servants, and wearing her nightgown under her jacket and skirt, blended in slightly. She gazed in a library before moving on to a busier corridor. She snuck into a busy kitchen. The head chef noticed her and smiled.  
  
"Hey you, girl, I need someone to take this to the page and squire's kitchen. Fool chef ran out of sugar again. I'll pay you a little extra if you do," he called. Leslie nodded and took the copper coin and a bag of sugar a quarter of her height.  
  
The man said, "Turn left and go down the stairs with the dark railing. Then turn left, go past three doors, and then turn left into the kitchen. Got it?" She nodded and left.  
  
She kept thinking the directions over and over again, and got there in fifteen minutes. The chef there was happy to see her and Leslie received a drink of water, and another copper coin.  
  
She followed the yarn back to her room and put the two coins in her backpack. She then went to look for a way outside.  
  
After a half hour Leslie got outside. She headed away from the palace, wondering what she could do.  
  
As it started to pour rain, she sighed. She would be soaked by the time she got back inside! Not wanting to be waterlogged, she walked into the much closer building.  
  
Once inside, she gasped. It was a stable, and many boys a few years older than her were putting horses into stalls. Not wanting to be caught, she hid behind a pile of hay. She waited nervously until they were all gone. She realized it must be dinnertime, and groaned. She would have to run all the way back to get in her room and changed in dry clothes by the time Neal stopped by!  
  
Luckily, there was a long cape with a hood. She tied the too long bottom to her height, and dashed to the doors. Discarding the cape in a supply closet, she barreled up the stairs. She put on the old dress and straitened up the room.  
  
Neal walked in two seconds later. He asked, "Do anything interesting today?"  
  
She smiled and said, "No, why would you think that?" 


	4. Chapter Three

Discovery  
  
Chapter Four  
The One, Caught  
  
A/N: I have an evil cold/sinus infection! Evil! But, it gives me plenty of writing time!  
  
In response to a review, Alycia's so young because she's impressionable. And little kids are (falsely) thought of as easy to handle. Three, Kid's don't understand (or care) what's impossible. Kay?  
  
Also, I will just call her Alycia now, got it?  
  
Finally, I am announcing a contest. You have to guess why I spelled Grace Grase, and leave a physical description and name so you can be in the story. Got it? You have to accurately guess only.  
  
Dis.: I own Alycia/Leslie, and the One and it's minions. Got it? Good.  
  
A week later, Alycia was bored again. So she decided to continue her explorations.  
  
She walked in a residential section, pretending to be busy. She strolled past a room and heard two voices in argument.  
  
"Ten more people are missing! You can't ignore that!" Alycia stopped to hear the rest.  
  
"It has to be a coincidence! Tortall's big, ten people aren't a lot."  
  
"Seven were mages, and only two were hedgewitches! And I know there's a spy in the palace. When someone important vanishes, then you'll believe me." Alycia gulped as she thought, They must think I'M the spy.  
  
Neal came over again after dinner. Alycia asked him, "What's a hedgewitch?"  
  
He looked at her and said curiously "Someone with very little magic, why?"  
  
"I overheard an argument, and two of them went missing." Neal had taught her a little about magic and other bits she was curious about.  
  
"Master Numair must have been trying to tell someone to up security," Neal commented.  
  
"He also said there's a spy in the palace, and what if he thinks it's me?" Alycia asked quietly.  
  
"They'll never find ya," Neal said loftily. Alycia giggled.  
  
"Neal, I think I'm rubbing off on you," she laughed. Neal made a face. Alycia gulped suddenly.  
  
"Neal, I thought you said no one would find me," She said oddly. Neal turned around. Master Numair was in the doorway. So was his father, trying not to laugh.  
  
"So this is your spy," The Duke of Queenscove said.  
  
Alycia winked and stuck her tongue out at Neal. She walked up to the two adults and smiled. She said cheerfully,  
  
"'Ello, my name's Alycia, what's yours?" The adults blinked at the little girls forwardness.  
"What are you doing here?" said the taller man.  
  
"I don't know, I was reading and then I was in here," she said honestly.  
  
The One read the note and swore. "The Spellsinger went and got herself caught! If she recieves training, my plan will go to pieces!" He took a deep breath.  
  
He went to a cage in the darkest corner of the room. Five men and five women were in the cramped steel box. He pulled out a woman. She clawed him fiercely as he started the spell.  
  
Suddenly she stopped. Her pupils shrank and vanished completely, her blue eyes glazed. A tawny rope of fog left her to coil in the One.  
  
"Grase! (A/N. Contest!)" A man in the cage shouted as a bracelet with five gems was slapped on her wrist. The One smiled and pulled him out.  
  
A/N: Good chapter? Bad? Tell me!  
  
Um, does anyone know how to get italics? 


	5. Chapter Four

A/N: Sorry 'bout the delay. I've got about ten stories up, one finished, one hopeless, seven to finish. TTT is gonna be on hold, with The Count's Game every once in a while 'til I finish some more of my stories.  
  
"May I see the book?" Numair asked. Alycia nodded and pulled the heavy gold book out.  
  
"The Art of Spellsinging," he whispered. Everyone who studied ancient magic knew of it, the famed spellbook and manual for spellsingers.  
  
"Where did you get this?"  
  
"The New York City Public Library," she said.  
  
"What?" Where was that?  
  
"In a galaxy far, far away," she laughed.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"No, but it might be in another world." Alycia was serious this time.  
  
"How?" The girl couldn't be more then seven, how could she jump between worlds?  
  
"I read part of the book."  
  
"Which part?" He started flipping through it eagerly, leaving Alycia to a growing feeling of panic.  
  
"STOP!" She yelled. He stopped. She grabbed the book back, and he still didn't move.  
  
"Um, Alycia, I think you froze him." Neal let out a snicker. Master Numair bested by a seven year old? Blackmail, anyone?  
  
"Ya think?" she asked wryly.  
  
"Can you unfreeze him?" the Duke said patiently.  
  
"No idea."  
  
"Do you have any idea how you froze him?"  
  
"I said stop."  
  
"Undo that."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Try saying go." Neal suggested. Alycia shot him a death glare.  
  
"Try being serious," she shot back.  
  
"I am."  
  
"Go. See? It didn't work."  
  
"Maybe you need to yell it?"  
  
"But go isn't specific. She might..."  
  
"Screw everything up?" They shot her an odd look. "Hey, you were thinking it, I just said it!"  
  
"Pots!" she yelled. Nope, didn't work.  
  
"What was that for?"  
  
"Pots is stop backwards."  
  
"Oh."  
  
She thought furiously. Suddenly a movie clip shot through her head. Stop was a line from a song. Spellsinging, hmm, maybe it was sung spells? Cool! But how to use it to unfreeze?  
  
"Go, move, go, move,- grr!" This was really annoying. She wondered what would happen if-  
  
"OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
'I think I broke his nose."  
  
"Yeah, I think you did."  
  
"WHY did you throw a book at my nose?"  
  
"You got frozen."  
  
"By what?"  
  
"Me." 


	6. Chapter Five

A/N: Sorry 'bout the delay!  
  
Alycia was still giggling at the supreme look of shock on Numair's face as he heard that. Quite amusing, really.  
  
"I have a question," Neal started.  
  
"Only one?" Numair asked sarcastically.  
  
"How did she do that?"  
  
"No idea," Alycia said cheerfully.  
  
"Well, maybe she has magic?" Numair said, even more sarcastically. He wasn't in the best of moods.  
  
"Well, it has to be stronger than yours to freeze you like that," Neal shot back. Alycia groaned.  
  
"Can you both please stop acting like little kids?" She heard that a ton of times at her... whatever.  
  
"We're not!" they chorused. She smacked her forehead. I'm seven and I can act better than them, she thought.  
  
"Maybe it has something to do with... Spellsinging, is it?" Neal's father ventured.  
  
"Prob'ly." Alycia said.  
  
"It's a possibility." Numair forgot the argument instantly. Alycia was forcibly reminded of Dory from Finding Nemo. (A/N: Great way to annoy people is to say 'Keep on swimming, Keep on swimming, Keep on swimming, Keep on swimming, etc.' Then later you say it once and the person gets annoyed)  
  
"Maybe we should do a quick test. Just to be sure." Neal suggested. Alycia nodded.  
  
"'K" She flipped through the book.  
  
"Teleportation?"  
  
"Too risky."  
  
"Shape-shifting?"  
  
"How will you change back?"  
  
"Command Spells?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Death spells?"  
  
"**_NO!"_**  
  
"I like this!" She laughed. "Nice and easy."  
  
"_Light as a feather,  
Not drifting like ash,  
Floating above a candle in the wind."_  
  
As she sang the worlds, she floated upward slightly. She grinned cheerfully and "swam" through the air.  
  
"Now try to get down," Numair said. She looked at him. She shook her head and swam down slowly, so she didn't rocket upward.  
  
She softly hummed a melody, singing most of it very softly. Slowly but surely, Numair's hair turned acid green. Neal's eyes got as wide as saucers, and the duke was trying to hold back a snicker.  
  
It didn't work.  
  
"What is so funny?" Numair asked, puzzled. "If it's about the spy thing, there was someone in the palace who wasn't supposed to be."  
  
Neal and Alycia looked at each other and gulped.  
  
"But the fact that Alycia is a mage raises some questions."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Who will teach her?"  
  
"You."  
  
"Is it that obvious?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alycia," Numair turned to her, "You can stay here for now."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Anything you want to say?"  
  
"Talk bad. Sleep good. Me go nighty-night now." Alycia stumbled to the bed as the others left.  
  
"Strange child." _And who has green hair?_ Alycia thought wickedly.  
  
"I agree."   
  
When they all left, Alycia flipped through the book. She stopped at a spell to open locks. She folded the corner, and flipped to a spell that made her invisible.  
  
Thirty minutes later, Alycia came back in the room, a dictionary in her hand. She had to figure out more about this Spellsinging stuff. 


	7. Chapter Six Fight Night

Chapter I have no clue  
A/N: I shamelessly stole the chapter title from CSI. The one where the guy injected mercury into his boxing gloves to kill his opponent.

I saw that episode in May. Scary.  
One month later  
  
Alycia was really bored. Bored stiff. She looked at Numair with puppy dog eyes, silently pleading to be done. She frowned as he continued trying to get something through her head. Something about responsibility, very dull. He had been talking about it for two hours.  
  
"I get it already. Don't use your magic to harm others with no good reason. My lesson was done an hour ago!" She screamed the last part.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, really."  
  
"Sorry, you can go." Alycia shook her head and left.  
  
"Has anyone seen Neal?" Alycia was getting worried. A cook saw him getting food at lunch, but no one else had seen him since.  
  
When Numair scryed for him after she threatened to turn him into a kangaroo, all he got was gray smoke.  
  
Alycia remembered what Numair had said the day she overheard him.  
  
_"When someone important vanishes, then you'll believe me."_  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
"It makes sense!" Alycia.  
  
"How?" Numair.  
  
"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth!" Alycia.  
  
"Where did you hear that?" Numair.  
  
"Girl in my room is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic." Alycia  
  
"Who's that?" Numair.  
  
"You don't know who Sherlock Holmes is?" Alycia.  
  
"No, I don't." Numair  
  
"Famous book char-character." Alycia  
  
"Ah, it all becomes clear." Numair  
  
"Very funny. Famous detective in the series." Alycia  
  
"Why do you think Neal was kidnapped?" Duke of Queenscove  
  
"The pages didn't see him go towards the forest, same in the front with the guards. Not one servant saw him since lunch, and all Numair got when he scryed was gray smoke." Alycia pointed out.  
  
"But they could all be coincidences."  
  
"A new servant went missing as well." Numair realized.  
  
"What?" Alycia shot up. "No one told me!"  
  
"You didn't know?"  
  
"No. So this proves it. Neal was kidnapped. And someone has to go after him."  
  
"No one will."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"No one knows what the kidnapper does with his victims."  
  
Alycia was about to say something when a picture shot through her mind. A tangled ball of knotted strands of multicolored light was floating over a golden circle. Most of the lights had a streaky silver end bit, but some didn't. A few were only the silver, as well.  
  
_"That can't be good."_ She thought sharply.  
  
"So no one will go after him?"  
  
"Correct."  
  
_But I will_, she thought stubbornly. _I'll go tonight._


End file.
